Black Lips â€“ 200 Million Thousand (CD)

Throughout the years since they formed (around 9, if people were checking), Black Lips have continued to refine the sound that was first heard on their 2003 self-titled debut. â€œ200 Million Thousandâ€ is their follow-up release to their 2007 Vice debut, â€œGood Bad Not Evilâ€, and immediately gives listeners a fresh slate which to appreciate the bandâ€™s music. â€œTake My Heartâ€ is a bit of retro, taking together the psychedelic, blues-rock, and garage movements of the seventies and turning them ever so slightly into a track that works in the current period and speaks to fans of current music.

This track is followed up perfectly with â€œDrugsâ€, a track that moves slightly newer in its constellation of influences. That means that the Rolling Stones veneer of Black Lips is given a hockey check into the boards by a heavy dollop of Ramones influence. â€œStarting Overâ€ has a slower tempo to it than most tracks on â€œ200 Million Thousandâ€, but the strung-out sound of the band here seems to marry together sixties rock with a little bit of Tim Armstrongâ€™s unique brand of caterwauling. â€œShot Fuseâ€ is similarly slower, but shows the bandâ€™s love of Neil Young and The Replacement. The driving tempo of â€œShot Fuseâ€ works alongside sci-fi sweeps and piano rolls to make something that is a current and fresh interpretation of older genres. â€œAgain & Againâ€ mashes up equal parts Iggy Pop and Devo, all while a bit of funk threatens to come through.

What ultimately results from this track is something that would work perfectly on sixties radio, despite being created nearly forty years after the decade ended. Despite the fact that the disc contains 15 tracks, none of the cuts from â€œ200 Million Thousandâ€ sound stressed or otherwise place the Black Lips in any but the strongest light. If you have not heard the band up to this point, your next stop should be to pick up â€œ200 Million Thousandâ€ and see the band live.